The present invention relates to a firing mechanism for a rotary machine gun. More particularly, the present invention relates to a firing mechanism for a rotary machine gun that can interchangeably fire electrically primed or percussion primed ammunition.
Rotary machine guns are weapons that are designed to fire ammunition at an extremely high rate when compared to other types of weapons. A rotary machine gun includes a series of barrels that are mounted on a rotor assembly. The rotor assembly rotates within a gun housing to fire a round of ammunition from each barrel in rapid succession. As one barrel is being fired, a round is being loaded into another barrel, while a spent casing is extracted from yet another barrel. In this manner, the rotary machine gun achieves the high rate of fire.
Each round of ammunition is fired by igniting a primer contained within the round. There are two commonly used methods of igniting the primer. Some guns use electrical energy to ignite the primer, while other guns use a mechanical force. Accordingly, there are also two types of ammunition: electrically primed and percussion primed. Electrically primed ammunition must be fired with electrical energy and percussion primed ammunition must be fired with a mechanical force.
Certain rotary machine guns, including the 20-mm M-61A1 VULCAN, M-61A2 VULCAN, and M-197 models manufactured by General Dynamics Armament Systems, were designed to use electrically primed ammunition exclusively. These rotary machine guns are commonly used as part of the weapons systems on fighter aircraft. Some of these fighter aircraft are based on aircraft carriers using high-powered electromagnetic devices. It has been discovered that under certain conditions, radiation generated by on-board radar and communications equipment can ignite the electrically primed ammunition. When these conditions occur, the uncontrolled ignition of the 20-mm shells creates a serious safety hazard for those on board the carrier. To eliminate this safety hazard, the carrier-borne aircraft having weapons that require electrically primed ammunition must be retrofitted with weapons capable of firing electrically primed or percussion primed ammunition.
In light of the foregoing there is a need for a mechanism to allow an electrically fired rotary machine gun to fire both electrically primed ammunition and percussion primed ammunition.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a firing mechanism for a rotary machine gun that obviates one or more of the limitations and disadvantages of the prior art rotary machine guns. The advantages and purposes of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages and purposes of the invention will be realized and attained by the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To attain the advantages and in accordance with the purposes of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention is directed to a firing mechanism for a rotary machine gun that has a gun housing that rotatably mounts a rotor assembly. The rotor assembly is configured to receive a plurality of ammunition rounds and includes a plurality of firing pins. The firing mechanism includes a percussion system that is disposed on the gun housing. The percussion system is operable to engage and move each of the firing pins as the rotor assembly rotates to deliver a mechanical force to one of the plurality of ammunition rounds. The firing mechanism also includes an electrical contact that is connected to an electrical power source. The electrical contact is disposed in the gun housing to contact each of the firing pins as the rotor assembly rotates. The electrical contact delivers electrical energy to the ammunition round.
In another aspect, the invention is directed to a rotary machine gun that includes a gun housing and a rotor assembly that is rotatably disposed in the gun housing. The rotor assembly is configured to receive a plurality of ammunition rounds and includes a plurality of firing pins. There is provided a percussion system that is disposed on the gun housing. The percussion system is operable to engage and move each of the firing pins as the rotor assembly rotates to deliver a mechanical force to one of the plurality of ammunition rounds. There is further provided an electrical contact that is connected to an electrical power source and is disposed in the gun housing to contact each of the firing pins as the rotor assembly rotates. The electrical contact delivers electrical energy to the ammunition round.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.